Dignity
by bobweirdy
Summary: Messing with Aphrodite is never a good idea. Even so, Nico di Angelo, desperate to avoid some crazy plot she cooked up, refuses to help her. He thought he was ready for the consequences, but, boy, was he wrong...


**I think I'm going insane. I don't know WHY I'm writing this... I think I'm a little bored. And pretty wiped out idea-wise. Eh, as if I need any more in-progress fan fictions.... Well....**

**Enjoy.**

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I started to lose my dignity during the winter solstice visit to Olympus.

It had been over a year since Percy Jackson had destroyed the evil Titan Lord, Kronos. Things had settled down, and I became accepted. I found myself some friends, and was just another mildly happy guy.

Camp life had soon started to feel normal, I guess. I prefered it to the desolate plains and barren hills of the underworld, with ghosts like Minos as my company. Now _that_ was an experience I never wanted to repeat. Minos was a crazy monster. He got me into loads of trouble.

Ah, trouble. Demigods' favorite past time. It always seems to find us, no matter how low we lay, how much we try to avoid it.

Trouble always finds me. Sometimes I ask for it. I rebelled alot at camp, 'cause I didn't like being restrained by the rules of lazy Dionysus. But other than that, I liked camp life. I was content.

Damnit. Aphrodite ruins everything. I'm starting to think she's worse than Persephone. But only by a little.

Back on topic, the winter solstice.

We had just arrived, and Chiron was giving some kind of lecture. He was saying something about meeting back at the Olympus exit when the meeting with the gods was over. I wasn't really paying attention, because I was busy gaping in awe at the magnificent buildings and houses of Olympus. It looked like something out of a fairy tale.

It was around midday, so the marketplace was bustling. Cyclopes lumbered through crowds of Dryads, Naiads, and other mythical creatures. Dotted around the mountainside were temples to various gods, each obviously stretching the limits of gravity; they were all huge structures, threatening to collapse.

I noticed there were no temples dedicated to my father. I shrugged. There would be soon. I'd make sure of that, if Hades didn't first. Having a friend who's girlfriend is architect for Olympus is pretty handy.

Olympus was still halfway under reconstruction, due to the destruction Kronos had caused the year before. I had to admit, the place looked amazing, even halfway destroyed.

I continued to gaze upon Olympus, in all it's glory, until I heard Chiron wrap up his lecture.

"Alright, now go have fun in Olympus until the meeting."

The one hundred or so demigods gathered around him dispersed and went to find their friends to explore the mountain with. I was getting jostled around and pushed while I debated who to go with.

I could find Percy, but he would probably be with Annabeth, and that meant they would be making out sooner or later, so I crossed him off of my mental list. I didn't particularly enjoy watching people eating eachother's faces off.

Maybe someone from the Hermes cabin. I had a few friends there, like Travis and Connor Stoll, the councilers of their cabin. But considering the amount of money I had on me, I didn't want to risk it.

I couldn't think of anyone else to go with, so I decided to go on my own. I started walking, shouldering my way past all the other half-bloods.

As I walked, I noticed people seemed to go out of their way to walk around me, like there was some bubble surrounding me. I wondered if people were just pegging me as potientally dangerous, or they could sense I was a son of Hades. I felt strangely exposed.

At the market, I found I could go to the amphitheater, the arena, a number of different temples, or the main palace. I was tempted to visit the arena, but something drew me to the palace.

I began plodding along the path, admiring the buildings surrounding me. They were all Ancient Greek structures, so elegant and graceful. Some of the streets were even fashioned after old times, with stones over the path allowing citizens to cross without dirtying their shoes, while spaced far enough apart to admit chariots passage.

There were a few chariots, meant to carry powerful figures in Olympus politics, or very flashy minor gods and goddesses. But for the most part, everybody walked where they were going.

Glancing up at the palace from a closer range, it seemed extremely familiar. There was something about it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. My thoughts strayed to the underworld, and I realized my father had fashioned his palace after the great one in front of me. I had to say, I preferred Hades' place to the other one. It seemed to perky and bright, almost blinding compared to the blacks and grays of the Underworld's.

As I walked thinking about that, I reached the palace. At the entrance, a creature quite like Argus, the camp's head of security, was monitoring the comings and goings of those who visited. Eyes were all over his body, and they blinked all at once, which gave him an odd, alien quality.

I nodded to him as I entered the palace, and he blinked in return. I shuddered. That thing was freaky. I slipped between the two giant doors, and what was beyond them was an amazing sight.

The throne room was extremely broad, and I could hear anything said by anyone else in it, because of it's echo. Golden pillars supported the whole place. The thrones were in a U shape at the far end of the room. Curtains hung from the ceiling, portraying different gods and goddesses, in all their glory.

As I was taking all of the room in, a hand rested on my shoulder.

Now, being a son of Hades, I don't scare easily. I'd lived in the Underworld for awhile, and that place was creepy. I didn't jump when I felt the hand on my shoulder, but it sent shivers down my spine. Spinning around, I growled, "What do you want?"

I was facing a woman, a few inches taller than me, who was utterly beautiful. She was everything you want in a woman, all packed in one. I almost gaped at her, but I regained control and snapped my jaw shut.

She looked at me sternly. "Now now, Nico. That's no way to talk to a goddess, is it?"

So she was a goddess. I didn't even have to think longer than a second to guess who it was.

"Aphrodite," I said bluntly. Then repeated, "What do you want from me?"

She sighed. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?" I balled my fists and clenched my jaw. "Well, Nico. Let's walk and talk." The goddess of love gestured to a corridor that split off from the throne room.

"Alright." I agreed, if reluctantly.

Aphrodite led me into the corridor, and we walked for a while in silence. The only audible sound was the clip-clop of Aphrodite's high heels. If she stopped walking, you could've heard a pin drop.

The goddess glanced over at me. "You don't talk much, do you?"

I looked sideways at her. "I try to speak only when necessary."

She let out a little, "Humph." and muttered, "Children of Hades. So non-emotional."

"The term now is emo, I think." I corrected her. "And I am not one."

She sighed, and chirped, "Denial."

I kept my mouth shut to that. She would twist my words if I argued. Goddesses were like that. Especially goddesses of love. Hate them.

"So..." she began. "How is your personal life going?"

I sighed, somehow knowing this conversation would end up going this way. "Shouldn't you be monitoring that?"

She twirled her hair. "Well, I'm a busy person."

"I can imagine," I mumbled under my breath.

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing."

We walked for another minute in silence. Numerous other half-bloods or magical creatures passed by, stopping to stare at the son of Hades and the goddess of beauty. I was sure rumors would be flying around Olympus within the next half-hour.

We walked for quite a bit like that. It was incredibly awkward. Finally, I was fed up enough. "Look, this has been fun, but can you cut to the chase? I have things to do."

Aphrodite sighed. "Alright. Since you are just _so_ busy, I guess you can meet me in my room after the big meeting," She waved her hand dismissively. "You can go now."

I nodded. "Okay. Thank you." I turned and began walking back the way we came. I reflected on the odd walk. Aphrodite certainly had something in mind. That was never good. I had to be on my guard and ready later. I don't enjoy being tangled up in goddess's plots.

I reached the central throne room, and after a brief hesitation, I walked out the front doors again.

The sun was lower in the sky than it had been when I'd entered the palace. I figured it was maybe thirty minutes 'till the council began. That was about the time I'd wasted with Aphrodite.

I figured the council meeting would be pretty boring. It wasn't like anything important was happening. The major dangers had passed. All that was left of the titan army was a few stray monsters and half-bloods.

I walked for a while, pondering things, until I was bowled over by something from behind me.

"Aghh!" My voice was muffled by the fabric of whoever's clothing was in my mouth. "Get off!" I attempted to say, but it came out as more of a "Ger erf!"

The firgure immediately rolled off of me, maybe somehow knowing who I was, and fearing the consequences of knocking over the son of Hades.

I caught a glimpse of them as I stood up. It was a boy, a few years older than me, and a bit taller too. He had shaggy brown hair and looked pretty guilty.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Travis, what are you doing?"

The older Hermes cabin counciler put on a crooked grin, and said, "Oh, just running from my brother, pickpocketing the mountain residents," he paused, then leaned in close and whispered, "Stealing Aphrodite's precious undergarments."

I had to grin at that last one. "Haha, nice, man. But if she finds out, she'll be pissed."

He shrugged, pushing his hair back. "Eh, her anger will melt off her when she sees the dashing young man who committed the crime. She'll see it as an offer."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's why you stole them?"

Travis shook his head. "Nah, I was gonna sell 'em to some desperate guy. But I figure, if I can't find a good price..." He broke off with a dreamy look in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "What, you gonna wear 'em?" He blushed a deep shade of red and shook his head violently. I chuckled. "Hey, speaking of Aphrodite, she told me she wanted me to meet her at her room later. What do you think she wants?"

Travis grinned, still blushing. "Ow! Sounds hot!"

I gave him a glare.

He laughed and shook his head. "Dude, with goddesses, you never know. But I'd guess she's cooking up some big plan."

I nodded. "Yeah, pretty much what I thought."

Travis checked his watch. "Woah! That time already? I gotta get going! Seeya later Nico!" He started to run off towards the market.

"Yeah, bye." I told him, which was pointless, because he was already out of earshot. I looked up at the sun again. It was just slightly past halfway in the sky, so I figured the council would begin in maybe twenty-five minutes.

That meant I had time to do something. After a brief hesitation, I went to the market to see if there was any entertainment.

When I got down, I watched the muses sing until it was time for the council. They played alot of classical stuff, but occasionally there were a few more modern songs thrown in.

There wasn't much of a crowd, just a few people who were passing by and stood to watch for a song or two. I stood under the shadows against a wall watching, subconsciously tapping my foot to the beat of the music.

Demigods came and passed, going both ways, chatting with their friends, admiring some magical item they bought. The number of campers was definitely up. There were many more people than I remembered from my earlier visit, almost crowding Olympus.

Almost. It was practically impossible to crowd Olympus. The mountain was gigantic, able to hold hundreds of thousands of people relatively comfortably. The market itself could hold a ton of people.

I stood there for a while, listening to the soothing music of the muses, until I noticed the flow of demigods was only going in one direction: Towards the palace. This meant the meeting was about to start, so I got ready to go. I wanted a good seat.

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**Alright, there is chapter one. You know, this is the first story I've ever Extensively edited. I'm pretty happy with it, actually. I hope you guys like it too ;D**

**Please review ;)**


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